A strange mood

[Sushi]

Hello everyone I am happy to be part of this website! Ok now my reason for posting.

Sometimes I get a strange feeling like I feel down but there is no reason for it. Its not that I am unhappy about anything I just feel low but not really depressed.

This feeling is temporary and sometimes happens if I go for a walk at night and then come home. Also sometimes I feel trapped about the day coming to a close when I don’t really want it to. What should I do about this feeling that just seems to consume me?

[martin]

Have you tried waking up earlier? This seems to help a lot of people and adds some extra time to your day.

[bwb]

I've found that the best way to deal with unwanted feelings is to just notice them and realize that it's ultimately my choice how to react. If I'm starting to feel depressed, or angry, or jealous, I try to mentally take a step back from the feeling, acknowledge it, and then be mindful. I don't try to suppress the feelings, just break the stimulus-response chain. When you're feeling down, the natural response is for your whole body to start reflecting this. Your shoulders are slumped, your eyes are down, your smile is gone.

But you have the power to stop this process in its tracks. Take a moment to clear your mind and just watch what's going on inside you. If you want, you can substitute an entirely different pattern for the usual depression one: look up, put your shoulders back, and wear a huge grin on your face. Then just watch and notice how that makes you feel.

[Sushi]

Originally Posted by bwb

I've found that the best way to deal with unwanted feelings is to just notice them and realize that it's ultimately my choice how to react. If I'm starting to feel depressed, or angry, or jealous, I try to mentally take a step back from the feeling, acknowledge it, and then be mindful. I don't try to suppress the feelings, just break the stimulus-response chain. When you're feeling down, the natural response is for your whole body to start reflecting this. Your shoulders are slumped, your eyes are down, your smile is gone.

But you have the power to stop this process in its tracks. Take a moment to clear your mind and just watch what's going on inside you. If you want, you can substitute an entirely different pattern for the usual depression one: look up, put your shoulders back, and wear a huge grin on your face. Then just watch and notice how that makes you feel.

Thanks I will give that a try!

[Alison Jenkins]

I find journaling a great way to tap into what is actually going on. If you are not used to writing freely it can take a little bit of practice to really get to the bottom of what feelings are going on. I always say write until you dry up.

You might want to read this article How writing helps to deal with feelings

Alison

[ScottJMurray]

Feelings like that happen for a reason, so they should be noted and listened to. Your emotions are trying to tell you something. They might be a little ridiculous at times, but they're important feedback mechanisms from your life. I also happen to think that a lot of depression and feeling down is a cover for anger, so you might want to ponder that for a while. I've found that a quick way to feel up and on my feet is to find whatever anger I might be trying to hide from myself.

I know that if I'm angry about something, that means there's some part of my life I want to change. Anger = motivation to initiate real positive change = going after what I want in life.

I actually was having a similar problem, but I did identify the reason for it. It felt like emotional leakage from my childhood, a distinct "unwanted" feeling. It's strange how these things just pop up every now and then. You definitely want to understand exactly what the feeling is trying to notify you of, however. Like the person above said, journaling can be of much assistance in that.

[nick pagan]

My own personal theory on emotions is that they arise out of the perceived difference between what we desire and what we result we get in reality. If we exceed our desire then we feel positive emotions. If we fail to fulfill our desire then we feel negative emotions.

There are different kinds of desires: Objective or goal desires, needs, beliefs and expectations. With most desires it is easy to know if you have fulfilled it or not but expectations prove trickier. These are all of the little additional clauses that seem to spring out of nowhere that take the edge of off enjoying fulfilled desires. You say that you are not unhappy but perhaps you don't feel fully satisfied because of some high level (often impossible to fulfill) desire that you haven't quite achieved. I also get trouble from these things. I fulfill a desire and then think, "Yeah, but if only x, y and z happened as well" These thoughts get me in the way that you described and I often don't realise that I'm influenced by them until I recognise that I have stopped being cheerful! Then I have a think or, as suggested, do some writing to ask myself "What more do I want right now?" When I ask that question I get clarity and then I either dismiss that expectation as unwarranted or else work on fulfilling it.

The way to consistently feel positive and to feel good about what you have is to manage your desires very carefully so that, more often than not, you fulfill them. This revelation has worked wonders in my life. You can read in much more detail about my ideas here:
http://www.nickpagan.com/blog/wp-con...fectly-v10.pdf

Nick